The agency that regulates Texas credit unions has been suing the state’s attorney general since December 2021 to keep a set of records out of public hands. Its lawyer told commissioners in March that the case is settled in principle and waiting on the other side to sign. Friday brings the next update.
The department sued in Travis County to overturn an attorney general ruling that the records had to be released, arguing that state banking-confidentiality law covers them and that disclosure would touch the privacy and property rights of West Texas Credit Union, which joined the suit a month later. General Counsel Devon Bijansky told the commission in March that confusion over how the records request was submitted led the attorney general’s office to conclude the material was not confidential, and that with no other recourse the department sued — hiring lawyers from the attorney general’s own office to argue against another division of it.
Who asked for the records has never been made public, and no news outlet appears to have written about the case in four and a half years. The department’s minutes are the only account of it. What the records contain is unknown.
The commission also adopts a real tightening of merger rules. Credit unions taking over another would be flatly barred from offering members anything — money, property, any benefit — conditioned on how they vote on the deal, including through a subsidiary or contractor. Notices sent before the member vote would have to carry a table on its own page naming every executive and director whose pay or benefits rise because of the merger, counting raises given in the two years before the board approved it. The threshold for a “substantial” increase jumps from $1,000 to the greater of 15 percent or $10,000. Two comments came in, both supportive: the Cornerstone Credit Union League and First Service Credit Union, whose chief executive sits on the commission.
Also up: a resolution honoring Kay Rankin-Swan, who stepped down April 1 roughly ten months into a six-year term and has not been replaced, leaving two of nine seats empty; a Tyler credit union’s stalled appeal of a limit on where it may recruit members, unresolved since 2024 partly because the rule setting the appeal timeline was repealed; and the department’s budget for a system now holding $61.6 billion across 159 state charters, down three institutions in a year.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 9:00 a.m. CT Friday, August 7, 2026. The Audit and Rules committees met Thursday; their recommendations are items 4 and 5.
- Where
- Credit Union Department, 914 East Anderson Lane, Austin 78752.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas Credit Union Commission — nine members appointed by the Governor, four from the industry and five public. Seven are seated. Jim Minge, chair; Becky Ames, vice chair.
- Format
- In person, open to the public, recorded. Comment is allowed on any agenda item or matter in the commission’s jurisdiction, limited to ten minutes per person.
- Live video
- Broadcast live through a link posted at cud.texas.gov on the morning of the meeting.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · Commission agenda and packet (PDF)
Commission members
- James L. “Jim” Minge, Arlington — chair; credit union chief executive.
- Becky L. Ames, Beaumont — vice chair; chairs the Audit Committee.
- David F. Shurtz, Hudson Oaks — industry member; chairs the Rules Committee.
- David Bleazard, Katy — industry member. Term to 2027.
- Karyn C. Brownlee, Coppell — public member; chairs the Commissioner Evaluation Committee.
- Cody R. Huggins, Georgetown — public member. Term to 2027.
- Sara Jones Oates, Austin — public member. Term to 2031.
- Two seats vacant — one industry, one public.
Roster: the August 7 agenda packet roll-call page. The department’s own Commission Members page is years out of date and still lists a departed member. Agency head: Commissioner Robert W. Etheridge, appointed December 2025; David C. Borden, deputy commissioner.